House of Representatives fiscal chair Rep. Antonio Sablan (Ind-Saipan) has readied a bill appropriating $32 million from Saipan casino gross revenue tax funds for priority agencies and government obligations.<\/p>\n
The proposed appropriations, in House Bill 19-194, come in line with Gov. Ralph DLG Torres\u2019 earlier recommended list of priorities but are scaled back in their amount. Sablan\u2019s House and Ways Committee decided to base appropriations on actual figures and not Torres\u2019 full projected figure of $47 million this fiscal year. <\/p>\n
Sablan says any additional monies not appropriated can be used in FY 2017.<\/p>\n
The Ways and Means committee appropriated $32 million rather than the full amount after looking at numbers provided by the secretary of the Department of Finance and the Commonwealth Casino Commission, showing what has actually been paid to Finance so far, Sablan said.<\/p>\n
They also took into account the average monthly BGRT tax paid out at around $2.2 million or $2.5 million, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe decided to conservatively just add $2 million more to what\u2019s already been paid in as of July,\u201d the lawmaker told Saipan Tribune.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s conservatively appropriating that amount,\u201d he continued. \u201cThere might be more. The August amounts might be more than the $2 million and we also have September collections but we decided that we would rather work with actual figures so the money becomes immediately available upon signing by the governor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bottom line, they are working with $15 million less than what was estimated in the governor\u2019s earlier message.<\/p>\n
Sablan said his bill should be ready for a session eyed next week Tuesday, where they also intend to pass a FY 2017 budget bill. The Ways and Means Committee recommended passage of the bill in a Aug. 15 committee report.<\/p>\n
Millions to govt debt to CUC<\/strong><\/p>\n H.B. 19-194 appropriates $2.5 million for Fuel Adjustment Clause (FAC) Rate Subsidy; $16 million for the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. to pay its outstanding balance to the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.; $1.6 million for the Medical Referral Program\u2019s outstanding obligations to Guam Memorial Hospital; $9 million for the payment of land compensation judgments; and $2.9 million to the Public School System for utility debt to CUC, $100,000 of which shall be used to pay of outstanding balances owed to school meal vendors and another $100,000 to pay school\u2019s maintenance and repairs.<\/p>\n According to Sablan, the PSS monies essentially free up $1.2 million in their current FY 2017 budget submission originally intended to also pay for outstanding utilities for next fiscal year in the amount of $100,000 per month for twelve months.<\/p>\n This means the $2.9 million from the casino BRGT will free up the $1.2 for PSS\u2019 other budget needs.<\/p>\n The $16 million from the casino BGRT from the hospital and the $2.9 to PSS, Sablan said, will help CUC help immediately.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s cash on hand. That\u2019s money that finance should be ready to remit to CUC right away. It\u2019s not projections,\u201d he said. \u201cOnce the governor signs it and the billings between CHC and CUC are agreed upon, Finance can immediately pay for those and then the land compensation\u201d and government obligations.<\/p>\n These include various judgments and settlements, from medical malpractice to contractual judgments, among others.<\/p>\n Sablan\u2019s bill spells out how these will be paid according to priority.<\/p>\n Judgments between $1,000 and $50,000 regardless of date will be paid in full, per his bill.<\/p>\n Judgments over $50,000 will be paid on a proportional basis.<\/p>\n Sablan explained this as proportional to \u201cto what\u2019s owed and what\u2019s appropriated.\u201d<\/p>\n He also underscored how an economic turnaround was able to help them \u201cdo all of this.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to bear in the mind that from FY 2015 to FY 2016, we basically had a supplemental budget increase of roughly $10 million. But that $10 million really just went to increases in Group Health and Life insurance and the Settlement Agreement. But from FY 2016 to current, the increase in general fund went up roughly $24 million\u2014and on top of that the casino BGRT at the least for FY 2016, is at $34 million. So that\u2019s roughly $50 million additional from FY 2016,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s very substantial, which is why we have got to ensure the current economic policies continue,\u201d he added. \u201cAnd that\u2019s why in [the FY 2017] budget, we try to allocate monies to those agencies like Zoning Board to make sure that while we welcome the added economic activity, we make sure that the development is planned. We don\u2019t want to keep building without any consideration to the environment and other considerations out there. We still welcome the development but it\u2019s got to be a controlled, planned development. That\u2019s why we look to those agencies to try to help them. We try to give them more resources to do the job.\u201d<\/p>\n If the economic progress continues, Sablan believes they should look to continue improvements to the hospital and long-term improvements to the campus of the Northern Marianas College, as well looking at possible legislation for a new museum to showcase the culture of the NMI.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" House of Representatives fiscal chair Rep. 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